Best movies like The Recruit
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A brilliant CIA trainee must prove his worth at the Farm, the agency's secret training grounds, where he learns to watch his back and trust no one.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 141000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Switzerland
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, suspense, clever, serious, suspenseful, exciting, tense, intense, rough, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like The Recruit (2003):
Similar in 76%
Contract Killers (2008)
Plot Summary:
A CIA assassin attempts to break out of the contract killing business to try to lead a normal life. But when "the system" tracks her down and frames her for the death of her husband, she embarks on a path of revenge that leads her back into the life she tried to hard to abandon.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Trinidad and Tobago
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, suspense
Similar in 78%
The Cold Light of Day (2012)
Plot Summary:
After his family is kidnapped during their sailing trip in Spain, a young Wall Street trader is confronted by the people responsible: intelligence agents looking to recover a mysterious briefcase.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Spain
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, serious, tense, political thriller, action packed, realistic
Similar in 79%
Casino Royale (2006)
Plot Summary:
Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond – on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent – to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 684000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: UK, Czech Republic, USA, Germany, Bahamas
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, action packed, scenic, entertaining, suspenseful, sexy, saga, action adventure, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Numbers Station (2013)
Plot Summary:
When the moral values of a longtime wetwork black ops agent is tested during his last operation, he receives an unfavorable psych evaluation. Now he is given a break and a seemingly uncomplicated assignment of simply protecting the security of a young female code announcer, code resources and remote station they are assigned to. After an ambush and one phone call later, it becomes a complicated fight for their survival.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: UK, Belgium, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tense, suspense, intense, enigmatic, talky, serious, political thriller, action thriller
Similar in 83%
Vantage Point (2008)
Plot Summary:
The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspectives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 153000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, suspense, exciting, suspenseful, clever, political, non-linear, action packed, political thriller, tense
Similar in 81%
Spy Game (2001)
Plot Summary:
Veteran spy Nathan Muir is on the verge of retiring from the CIA when he learns that his one-time protégé and close friend, Tom Bishop, is a political prisoner sentenced to die in Beijing. Although their friendship has been marred by bad blood and resentment, Muir agrees to take on the most dangerous mission of his career and rescue Bishop.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 165000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Japan, France, UK
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, suspenseful, stylized, rough, clever, political, political thriller, action thriller, psychological
Similar in 80%
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Plot Summary:
New CIA operative, Aaron Cross experiences life-or-death stakes that have been triggered by the previous actions of Jason Bourne.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 313000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Canada
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, action thriller, action adventure, serious, entertaining, action packed, intellectual, saga, cliffhanger
Similar in 84%
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Plot Summary:
Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 521000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: exciting, breathtaking, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, clever, entertaining, action adventure, stylized, action packed
Similar in 90%
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Plot Summary:
Wounded to the brink of death and suffering from amnesia, Jason Bourne is rescued at sea by a fisherman. With nothing to go on but a Swiss bank account number, he starts to reconstruct his life, but finds that many people he encounters want him dead. However, Bourne realizes that he has the combat and mental skills of a world-class spy – but who does he work for?.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 569000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Czech Republic
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: political thriller, intense, exciting, suspense, suspenseful, entertaining, psychological thriller, action packed, saga, action adventure
Similar in 78%
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
Plot Summary:
A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 106000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, suspenseful, political thriller, psychological, exciting, serious, suspense thriller, surprise ending, inspirational
Similar in 85%
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Plot Summary:
When a CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 481000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Russia, India
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, exciting, intellectual, serious, entertaining, action packed, tense, clever, road movie
Similar in 78%
Erased (2012)
Plot Summary:
A former agent of the CIA and his estranged daughter go on the run after his employers target them for assassination.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Belgium, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, suspense, rough, action thriller, political thriller, action packed, action adventure, serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Plot Summary:
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate - an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 404000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA, China
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: breathtaking, exciting, suspense, suspenseful, entertaining, sexy, scenic, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 87%
The Double (2011)
Plot Summary:
The mysterious murder of a US senator bearing the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin 'Cassius', forces retired CIA operative, Paul Shepherson to team with rookie FBI agent, Ben Geary to solve the crime. Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland. Geary, who wrote his Master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, tense, intense, realistic, serious, surprise ending, political thriller, twisted, neo noir
Similar in 76%
Abduction (2011)
Plot Summary:
A young man sets out to uncover the truth about his life after finding his baby photo on a missing persons website.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, teen, suspense, romantic, serious, entertaining, absurd, intense, psychological thriller
Similar in 88%
Enemy of the State (1998)
Plot Summary:
Hotshot Washington lawyer, Robert Dean becomes a victim of high-tech identity theft when a hacker slips an incriminating video into his pocket. Soon, a rogue National Security agent sets out to recover the tape – and destroy Dean.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 256000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: clever, suspense, tense, political thriller, suspenseful, political, exciting, sexy, entertaining, action thriller
Similar in 83%
Eagle Eye (2008)
Plot Summary:
Jerry Shaw and Rachel Holloman are two strangers whose lives are suddenly thrown into turmoil by a mysterious woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, the unseen caller uses everyday technology to control their actions and push them into increasing danger. As events escalate, Jerry and Rachel become the country's most-wanted fugitives and must figure out what is happening to them.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 194000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, serious, intense, psychological thriller, futuristic, action thriller, action packed, thought provoking, clever
Similar in 87%
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
Plot Summary:
After five (or six) years of vanilla-wedded bliss, ordinary suburbanites John and Jane Smith are stuck in a huge rut. Unbeknownst to each other, they are both coolly lethal, highly-paid assassins working for rival organisations. When they discover they're each other's next target, their secret lives collide in a spicy, explosive mix of wicked comedy, pent-up passion, nonstop action and high-tech weaponry.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 528000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sexy, entertaining, romantic, exciting, suspenseful, funny, romantic comedy, action packed, action comedy, black comedy
Similar in 77%
The November Man (2014)
Plot Summary:
An ex- CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tense, suspense, action thriller, brutal, visually appealing, clever, political, slasher
Similar in 87%
Safe House (2012)
Plot Summary:
A dangerous CIA renegade resurfaces after a decade on the run. When the safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 233000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: South Africa, USA, Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, suspense, intense, tense, serious, realistic, clever, action packed, action thriller
Similar in 86%
Salt (2010)
Plot Summary:
As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture. Salt's efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: "Who is Salt?".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 327000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, surprise ending, serious, entertaining, visually appealing, action packed, tricky, political, action thriller
Similar in 80%
Taken (2008)
Plot Summary:
While vacationing with a friend in Paris, an American girl is kidnapped by a gang of human traffickers intent on selling her into forced prostitution. Working against the clock, her ex-spy father must pull out all the stops to save her. But with his best years possibly behind him, the job may be more than he can handle.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 625000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, entertaining, suspense, intense, serious, harsh, fast paced, action packed, action thriller
Similar in 84%
Patriot Games (1992)
Plot Summary:
When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets Jack and his family as revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 119000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: exciting, political, suspense, suspenseful, political thriller, rough, serious, realistic, action adventure, anamorphic
Similar in 88%
The Siege (1998)
Plot Summary:
The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York that lead to the declaration of martial law.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 77000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, intense, exciting, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, controversial, political thriller
Similar in 79%
Traitor (2008)
Plot Summary:
When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, suspenseful, tense, entertaining, intense, political, realistic, twisted, psychological thriller
Similar in 84%
In the Line of Fire (1993)
Plot Summary:
Veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling himself "Booth" threatens the life of the current President, forcing Horrigan to come back to protection detail to confront the ghosts from his past.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 112000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, exciting, political, tense, entertaining, intense, serious, political thriller, neo noir
Similar in 86%
Body of Lies (2008)
Plot Summary:
The CIA’s hunt is on for the mastermind of a wave of terrorist attacks. Roger Ferris is the agency’s man on the ground, moving from place to place, scrambling to stay ahead of ever-shifting events. An eye in the sky – a satellite link – watches Ferris. At the other end of that real-time link is the CIA’s Ed Hoffman, strategizing events from thousands of miles away. And as Ferris nears the target, he discovers trust can be just as dangerous as it is necessary for survival.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 237000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: clever, political, exciting, tense, realistic, political thriller, serious, suspense, entertaining, enigmatic
Similar in 86%
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Plot Summary:
Bourne is brought out of hiding once again by reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation Blackbriar, an upgrade to Project Treadstone, in a series of newspaper columns. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally uncover his dark past while dodging The Company's best efforts to eradicate him.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 652000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, France, Spain
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: exciting, intense, suspenseful, rough, suspense, entertaining, action packed, stylized, clever, tense
Similar in 78%
Breach (2007)
Plot Summary:
Eric O'Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, and to write down everything Hanssen does. O'Neill's told it's an investigation of Hanssen's sexual habits, however Hanssen is really suspected of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for years and being responsible for the deaths of agents working for the United States.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, intense, clever, political, dramatic, psychological thriller
Similar in 88%
Unknown (2011)
Plot Summary:
An American biologist attending a conference in Berlin awakens from a coma after a car accident, only to discover that someone has taken his identity and that no one, not even his wife, believes him. With the help of an illegal immigrant and a former Stazi agent, he sets out to prove who he is and find out why people are trying to kill him.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 268000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany, France, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, twist ending, suspenseful, tense, mind bending, psychological, captivating, serious, exciting